Garcia, Michael P.

Michael P. Garcia, a partner, is a member of the firm’s Securities and Taxation Groups. His practice focuses on taxation, corporate law, estate planning and settlement, and dispute resolution.

Mike has extensive tax experience and regularly advises domestic and foreign clients on various tax issues, including the legal and tax implications of various business and transaction structures and estate planning options.
 
He represents clients in appeals against tax assessments and judicial claims for tax refund or tax credit before local trial courts, Court of Tax Appeals, Court of Appeals, and Supreme Court. Some of the cases he handled led to reforms in Philippine taxation law and practice – including: (i) the institution of preliminary hearings before the Court of Tax Appeals to determine whether the taxpayer should post a cash deposit or bond as a condition to suspend tax collection; and (ii) the requirement for regulatory issuances on the disclosure of beneficial ownership for tax purposes to be within the statutory authority of the government agencies concerned and consistent with the rights to due process and data privacy of the data subjects.
 
He also advocates on behalf of clients before the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Department of Justice.
 
Mike received his Bachelor’s Degree as a Management Economics major with a minor in Philosophy from the Ateneo de Manila University in 2004. He received from the same university his Juris Doctor Degree in 2008, where he was ranked 3rd in his graduating class and awarded Second Honors.
 
In 2018, he received his Master of Laws Degree in International Taxation from New York University School of Law as a Gerald L. Wallace Fund Scholar for International Taxation.
 
He was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2009 and is currently a director of the Tax Management Association of the Philippines and a member of the International Fiscal Association.